Because of a delay on some work I have going on in Ohio, I decided to head back to the boat where I had left it in Demopolis, and continue my trip south.
Waking early Monday morning and making the nine hour drive from Cape Coral to Barbers Marina in Perdido, I met my bud Brian Russel, rented a car and drove 3 1/2 hours more to Demopolis Alabama.
The next morning in Demopolis, after having dealt with returning the rental car, getting some groceries, and fuel, we were finally able to begin the trip south, at what I consider a late start of about 1030. Decent, published anchorages, on the Black Warrior Tombigbee river are few and far between, and with our late start we would be left to make due with whatever anchorage we could find. The BWTB is a narrow river used by push boats, so wherever one decides to anchor, it's best to use two anchors which is how we handled things.
From Demopolis to Mobile bay is 215 miles. Because of the lack of daylight hours this time of year, we were looking at a two and a half day run. Our first day out, we did the half day day part of the run, which left us two long days to get to mobile bay. In this part of the world, on the eastern edge of the central time zone, it gets dark early and fast. Our strategy was to be ready to anchor about 1600 given the fact that by 1700 it's darn near dark.
On night two of our run, we got a little sloppy on planning our aft anchor position, and at 0300, the wind picked up and started pushing us close to the bank, setting off our anchor drag alarm. It was a pretty easy decision to get the spare 45 lb anchor ( anchor # 3 on the boat ), fire up the dinghy, and set a third anchor pulling us back out 45' from the bank where we were again safe.
The third day out having exited the last lock we'd see on the river system, the topography and fauna on the Black Warrior changed noticeably. Cypress trees, and more southern looking palmetto became dominant as our surroundings began to look more like a bayou. Cruising through this new and different landscape, I began to notice the sign of a river controlled by tides, along with brown pelicans diving, and many Osprey nests in the branches of dead Cypress trees.
The third night out found us anchored in Little Bayou Canot, 13 miles above the industrial canal of Mobile Bay. I have to say this was one of the best anchorages we've had since leaving Pickwick.
For the last three days, we'd been watching the forecast for Mobile bay get worse the closer we got. As we were eating dinner on our third night, talking about crossing Mobile bay, we were looking at a forecast of choppy becoming rough, with a small craft advisory possible the next afternoon. After finishing dinner, we spent half an hour making sure any item that could fly across the cabin was stowed or tied down.
The next morning had us pulling up the anchor at 0620 with clear sky, high pressure, and winds foretasted to be out of the north @ 20. This particular morning was drop dead gorgeous, and a short time later we were cruising through the industrial canal in Mobile. The trip down the river system from New Richmond Ohio was some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen, but the trip through this working port of Mobile was the best part of our trip. Seeing the navy attack ships, huge freighters, monster cranes and even bigger tug boats was something I'd tell any boater to put on their bucket list. As happy as I was to finally see this key part or our economic engine, I was more happy to not have to deal with an inbound or outbound freighter.
Taking pictures, watching the navigation line go through the industrial canal, and another turn in our book, I looked out the front window and realized all I could see was water as we headed out in to the bay. The mobile ship channel is pretty wide and definitely well marked. Staying on the starboard sail line, and looking at at the bay with my binoculars, I was struck with how large it looked and how lumpy it looked. Once we cleared the first buoy's, that lumpy look I saw in my binoculars was pretty much confirmed in my seat.
The wind was out of the north @ 15-20, the tide was coming in and the bay was white capped. The boat was rolling around quite a bit and once in a while a cabinet door or drawer ( need to put door and drawer locks on the list ) would open and slam shut. I was working the wheel pretty hard, but for the most part had no real issue holding our course. Our plan, if we did not like the way things felt, was to head into Dog River and deal with crossing the bay later on. The Dog River markers showed up on the plotter, and given that we both felt fine, and the boat was handling the chop well, we kept on going. Plotting a line to exit the ship channel through one of the dredged cuts, along with a south easterly line to where the ICW leaves the bay, we pushed on down the channel, then made a turn to east. Once we turned east, the boat was much easier to control, but rode a bit rougher. When we made another turn to the south east, the boat was still pretty easy to control, and rode much better. After an hour or so heading south east, and getting a bit of shelter from land to the north, things really settled down, and while still bumpy, the boat felt pretty good.
By early afternoon we were tooling east on the ICW, and all was good and happy. Again, because I'm on a tight schedule to get back home, we had to stay on task and get to our next monthly harbor at Barbers Marina. Barbers Marina is in Wolf Bay and was recommended by fellow trawler forum members. This facility is for sure the nicest place I've been in and the people who run it are about as good as it gets. I can't say for sure how Mr. Barber made his way in this world, but I can say that Mr. Barber knows how to do things right.
Having got the boat to Barber's early in the afternoon, and getting her harbored up, the lady who runs the ships store recommended Wolf Bay Lodge for a good dinner. If the seafood in this part of the world is like it was at Wolf Bay lodge, I can for sure say I'm going to love cruising through the northern gulf coast.
The next morning found me back in my truck for the drive back to Cape Coral. The boat is secure at Barbers, and now that it's on the ICW, my wife and kids will be riding along for most of the remaining trip. We plan on flying back to Ohio to do a week of Christmas with family, followed by five days of moving the boat east. Tentatively, we plan on ending the next leg east of Panama City in late December. Another move east will find find us in Carabelle where we'll be looking at crossing the bend. I don't think the wife and kids will be in to crossing the bend, but will pick up riding along once we get on the western Florida ICW.
My trip odometer says I've come 1270 miles. The boat has performed almost perfect, but there are a few items that need to be tweeked. My confidence level is climbing, and I can now say I have an honest shake down under my belt which makes me feel real good about how we can trust the boat.
Conall
Glad you made it safe. 
